Movies
Doghouse (V)
“[Doghouse is] good campy fun, and not to be taken seriously….It’s endearing, bloody, entertaining, funny, and has memorable characters to boot.”
Another British horror-comedy has made my day a little more enjoyable. Doghouse follows the UK tradition of being hilarious and bloody in all the right ways. Between Severance, Lesbian Vampire Killers, Shaun of the Dead, and a few others, the stranglehold on horror-comedy continues for the Brits. It’s good campy fun, and not to be taken seriously. I mention that because this film could be considered quite misogynist and there is no need for the feminist army to revolt over a film that has as much gravitas as thoughts coming from Paris Hilton’s brain.
A group of men, all of whom are in various trouble with the significant others, head off to the country to get some man time. Ya know, time where they can “piss on trees to mark their territory and can get so drunk they can’t remember their own names.” When they get there, they run into a town full of feminist, man-hating, zombie chicks. Banding together, the group must bash, chop, shoot, and beat their way to freedom. Of course, since this is a British flick there is plenty of comedy to go around between the killings of the zombie bitches.
The comedy, while not on par with some of the other films already mentioned, was more than enough. Particularly, the character Banksy had me rolling. He is the slow guy who is always late to everything. Banksy has several misadventures on his way to meeting his friends (which turns out to be a rescue mission unbeknownst to him) only to show up in the least helpful vehicle ever made by man. It’s freaking hilarious laugh out loud stuff.
The gore is well executed and in some cases disturbing. Particularly, the image of the large lady in a Moo Moo, who had a thing for finger-steaks will most likely haunt my nightmares for days to come. Plenty of the deaths are of the bloody messy variety, meaning gorehounds should be satiated.
The plot is very similar to Shaun of the Dead with a rag-tag group trying to survive. So, if you didn’t like that movie, there is almost no chance you will like Doghouse. Copying a great formula can be a good idea if you bring something new to genre. But this ultimately ends up being a failure point for this film. It’s almost too much like the other horror-comedies. Nothing new or exciting was inserted to take the genre to the next level. It’s like a repeat of better material, done with less success. That doesn’t mean it isn’t good. In fact, I would take this film over the vast majority of horror comedies released this year.
It’s endearing, bloody, entertaining, funny, and has memorable characters to boot. Not many horror films can say that (I’m looking at you: 90% of mainstream American horror this year). I thoroughly enjoyed Doghouse and have no problem recommending to fans of British horror comedies the world around.
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A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
Adam Simon (The Haunting in Connecticut, “Salem”) and Tim Metcalfe (The Haunting in Connecticut, Kalifornia) penned the script. The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallace.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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